Two Singapore Staycations: Duxton Reserve & JW Marriott South Beach

[yflyer]

The bathroom had both a tub and a shower stall...



The bath tub...



Shower...



Amenities from Aromatherapy Associates





WC equipped with Toto Washlet...

[yflyer]

The room entrance had a small service door and storage area, accessible from within the room, where the hotel staff could drop off laundry and other items without having to enter into the room.





I did not see this used during our stay, but this might be a useful feature that would enable staff to drop items off even if the Do-not-Disturb sign was on.

Overall I found the Premier King room to be very impressive, with stylish decor and great facilities , including large flat screen TV and separate shower/tub.

[yflyer]

The facilities of the JW Marriott South Beach are spread out over several buildings in the South Beach complex, which has a semi-open plan design, with large open spaces under a semi-enclosed canopy...





Breakfast would be served at the Beach Road Kitchen, which is also open for lunch and dinner...



Akira Back is a restaurant which serves Japanese/Korean fusion cuisine...





The former SAF NCO Club building is now part of the South Beach Complex, where several of the JW Marriott's entertainment venues are located.





This building used to serve as the SAF NCO Club until 2001. (Non-Commissioned Officers are now known as Specialists in the SAF).



The NCO Club had a range of very intriguing entertainment and lifestyle venues.



Also in-keeping with the military theme was the Court Martial Bar...



The hotel's grand ballroom used to be a Military Drill Hall...

[yflyer]

Apart from the Premier King Room, we also booked a Marina Bay Suite.

I found the Premier King Room impressive, but the Marina Bay Suite was jaw-dropping...



Entrance foyer with a pair of seats...



...and a separate, generously sized, visitor toilet...



The Suite had a separate living room, which was beautifully decorated.





An extra rollaway bed had been placed in the living room as we had 3 occupants in the Suite.



There was massive flat screen TV with a great HD channel selection.



Well-lit writing desk...





A slim tower book case, with quite an interesting selection of books...

[yflyer]

The bedroom was stunning...





...with great views of the Singapore Civic District...



A very comfortable bed...



Automatic window blinds...

[yflyer]

There were great views all round...



The National Library HQ, with the Naumi Hotel and rooftop pool in the foreground..



We had a bird's eye view of the iconic Raffles Hotel...





The only issue was taking photos of the scenery, as the building exterior had a decorative metal lattice...



It was impossible to take pictures of the surrounding scenery without some obstruction from this lattice...

[yflyer]

The generously sized bathroom...





Dual bathroom sinks, separated by the entrance...



Deep tub...perfect for a long hot soak...





Separate shower stall...



Jumbo size tubes of shampoo, conditioner and shower gel...



Amenities...



Retractable window blinds at one end of the bathroom...



Best to keep the blinds down...



Toto Washlet...

[yflyer]

Like the Premier King room, the Suite also had a service/storage cabinet next to the entrance, accessible from both inside and outside the hotel room, for staff to leave/collect items without having to ring the doorbell to enter the Suite.





Wardrobe...

[yflyer]

The Suite's minibar was fully stocked...







Minibar selections included pre-mixed cocktails from LAIBA...



A platter of fresh fruit was delivered to the room in the early evening...



Overall, this was a beautiful and very comfortable Suite, exactly the kind of place we would want to spend a staycation in...

[yflyer]

At 3.30pm we headed to the 2nd level, and crossed over the link bridge to the Executive Lounge, for afternoon tea.



The Executive Lounge had a modern, casual, minimalist vibe...quite unlike other hotel lounges I had been to..





We had pre-booked a one hour slot for afternoon tea, and were shown to our table...



Rather than a self service buffet, the afternoon tea selection was a set which was brought to your table...



This was quite a generous selection comprising sandwiches, pastries, cakes and scones.

You also had, of course your choice of coffee, tea and juice.

[yflyer]

After tea, we headed up to the 18th floor to check out the pool at Flow18.



This was one of two pools at the JW Marriott.

This was not a large pool, but the views were very impressive...







There was a section of the pool where the water was only centimetres deep...



...where one could chill barefoot at a table with cool water lapping around your feet...



Other facilities on the 18th floor included a pool table, and even a table tennis table, although the wind 18 floors up probably made it difficult to play a proper game of table tennis there!



You could also enjoy drinks from the Flow18 Bar at tables set around this level...



The JW Marriott Facilities also included a gym (no picture) and a spa (Which we did not try on this occasion)...

[yflyer]

We would be back in the lounge in the evening for drinks and Hors D'oeuvres, but first I would head out of the hotel for a run around the Civic District and Marina Bay...

I would head out past the Civilian War Memorial towards the Esplanade...



...and run a lap around Marina Bay...

[yflyer]

I began my run at the driveway of the JW Marriott...



I headed westwards towards the Civilian War Memorial, along the sidewalk parallel to Nicoll Highway...



I passed the Civilian War Memorial, which was built in remembrance of civilians in Singapore who lost their lives during the Japanese Occupation in WW2, from 1942-1945...



An escalator took me down to an underpass...



...that led to the Esplanade...



...whose large concert hall and theatre have been shut for some time, owing to COVID-19, but where small scale performances have just recently begun...



I continued along the perimeter of Marina Bay, with the objective of making a complete loop around this body of water...



This was perfect running weather: cool and overcast...



I jogged past the Floating Platform...



Many memorable events had been held here, including several National Day Parades (NDP)...



This will soon be redeveloped into NS Square , but I will miss the floating platform as it is today, and all those good memories associated with it.

[yflyer]

Further on, I crossed the Helix Bridge over to MBS...





...and continued along the waterfront promenade...

[yflyer]

There was one new structure to be seen along the promenade...



This was the new Apple Store...



...and what a striking structure it was...



Christmas trees lined the western end of the promenade...



Looking back towards Marina Bay Sands and the Floating Platform...



On the opposite side of Marina Bay, I passed the revolving restaurant at Clifford Pier, which now houses Tong Le Private Dining and Sushi Mieda. This is the only remaining revolving restaurant in Singapore, now that the other two iconic Singapore revolving restaurants are no longer operating: Prima Revolving Restaurant has closed, Mandarin Orchard's revolving restaurant has been turned into the hotel club lounge.



I continued past the Fullerton Bay Hotel...



The old Clifford Pier structure is now part of the Fullerton Bay Hotel...



There are great views of Marina Bay and the Marina Bay Sands Hotel and Resort complex from this side of the Bay...



I continued past waterfront dining...





...towards the Merlion...